Taylor McIntosh's Blog
– Follow the Kansas women’s basketball team through the words of KU junior forward Taylor McIntosh. The Wichita, Kan. native is a three-year starter and co-captain of the 2006-07 Kansas Jayhawks.
Bonnie’s Blog
Kelly’s Blog
May 14, 2007
Hello Everyone,
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The school year is coming to an end and I can now call myself a senior. For the past two years, I have been a pre-pharmacy major and finally began the admissions process for pharmacy school in February. I had an interview three weeks ago, so the only thing I have left to do is wait for the letter (hopefully an acceptance letter) to come in the mail.
Besides school, I have been working out with “crazy” Coach Hudy to get stronger and faster for next year. Since this is my last blog of the year, I decided to let everyone tell how their postseason has been going instead of trying to myself. Thanks for all the support and I look forward to seeing you all next year!
Jamie Boyd
Since the season has ended, I have been trying to concentrate on my school work. Currently, Ivana and I are in chemistry trying to keep our heads above the water, we’re definitely spending a lot of time together studying, like we don’t spend enough time with each other.
As far as basketball goes, we have definitely been working in the gym and with Coach Hudy in the weight room. I think all of us are looking forward to the end of the semester and getting a chance to spend some time with our families. I have no big plans set but a little rest and relaxation is in order. I might even on occasion be seen out on the golf course.
Ivana Catic
Since the basketball season ended I have been doing nothing but schoolwork … just kidding :-). It was nice to rest but I needed to start working out. School is going pretty good and I am finishing up a couple of my classes as we have final projects and papers and no final exams. I still have at least two final exams.
I’m really looking forward to going back to <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Serbia May 20 (yes, I have a little countdown in my planner). My sister had a baby April 1 and I can’t wait to see him, my niece, the rest of my family and friends. I also can’t wait to eat my mom’s food. Nothing can beat that … I know she will spoil me like a baby because she only gets to see me for about one month out of the year. After that, I will be back here training and getting ready to win some games next year! Rock Chalk!
Marija Zinic
Spring is my favorite time of the year. First of all, because my birthday was March 12 and I know that I will go home to Serbia soon. I am really looking forward to going home after this semester and I can’t wait to see my family. I am coming back to Kansas in July for summer school. Other than that, I am just enjoying the weather this time of the year.
Katie Smith
The last day of individual workouts for the postseason was last week. It was a long and hard season, but I have definitely been improving. I am awaiting finals week and hopefully can maintain my 3.79 GPA.
After school gets out I plan on going home for two weeks and spending time with my family and friends. When I return in June, I will be ready to get back to work. I am taking six hours of classes this summer and will hopefully improve my jump shot, especially my three-point shot. In July, I am not taking classes and plan on taking a week of vacation with my family to OkobojiLake in Iowa. At the beginning of August we will head to Australia and then before I know it I will officially be a junior.
Rebecca Feickert
I have been busy (of course) with individual workouts and Hudy, trying to improve myself in order to better the team. Besides basketball, I was accepted to the BusinessSchool for fall, so I am finishing prerequisites this summer to get ready.
Also, I have recently signed up for the school program in Big Brothers Big Sisters; I’m really excited to meet my little sister and start the program. For break, I will be driving the 12 hours back to North Dakota, which is long but worth it to see my family. Part of the break I’m also flying out to Porscha’s–time with my family, a little shopping, and some California sun and I’ll be ready to go for summer!
Danielle McCray
The season has come to an end; there are big numbers that count down the days left of school everywhere I turn; in my room and in my daily planner. I have to first say, this year was a good year. I felt like I hit a wall, but got up and never gave up. I really enjoyed every moment. But the team has been working extremely hard the last month to prepare for next year. I have been getting my school work back on track and am ready to take a vacation to Georgia.
Porscha Weddington
My plan for the rest of the season is to work hard in class and get more mentally tough in workouts and individuals. My plan for the summer is to go to Temple, Texas for six days then go to my new home in California with Rebecca and spend time with my family.
Sade Morris
Postseason workouts have been going well as we all continue to get better. As for me, after postseason workouts I will be going back to my home in Oklahoma to spend time with my family and friends.
LaChelda Jacobs
This summer I am really looking forward to going home for two weeks. I really miss my family – especially my mom. We always talk on the phone about how much we miss each other. After those two weeks are over, I plan on coming back to campus and getting back to work. I will continue to work on my shot, because Bonnie has been telling me that its looking a lot better, so I’m going to take that and run with it. Next season you all can see for yourself.
Feb. 28, 2007
Hello, KU basketball fans!
The month of February has been good to the Lady Jayhawks. We won three out of our last five games. The first win came against Colorado on Feb. 6. Everyone came to Allen Fieldhouse hungry for a win and determined to play with a toughness that would not allow us to lose. For a majority of the season we have struggled as a team with free throws, so who would have thought that we would go 17-for-18 from the line?
In my first two years at Kansas, the free throw line has been a nightmare, so when I was fouled toward the end of the game I was ready to make the two free throws that sent the game into overtime. Coach Hudy, (strength and conditioning coach) said it’s all about confidence and that is exactly what was going through my mind!
A couple of days later we defeated the Longhorns in Austin, Texas. Similar to the previous game, we won on a last second shot and like the last contest, Shaq was the one who made the shot.
Danielle had the hot hand for most of the game, so everyone knew she was going to get the last shot, but Shaq just happened to be wide open under the basket because two Texas players ran out on Danielle. I’m pretty sure they wanted to force a contested jumper rather than an uncontested lay-up.
On Valentine’s Day the Missouri Tigers came to Lawrence ready to play and for some odd reason, we were not ready. We dug ourselves a hole that we could not climb out of, but the good thing about it is that we get to play them again on March 1, which will be our last conference game.
There is nothing like getting a chance to play your two biggest rivals in the same week and after losing to Missouri there was no way we were going to lose to K-State. We finally broke our losing streak against the Wildcats and it could not have come on a better day. It was Family Day, so everyone enjoyed the victory with each other, our great fans and with our loved ones.
February 21 was also a special day, particularly for Sharita and Shaq. It was senior night, the last time our two seniors would be playing in Allen Fieldhouse. We played the Oklahoma Sooners to a six point game and although we did not come out with a victory, we did not go down without a fight. That has been our “MO” all season. We fight and fight and our young players have learned how to do this longer and harder than ever before.
Eventually all of our hard work will pay off for us in the long run. Even though the season is about over, we still have the Big 12 Tournament the first week in March. While we have struggled to finish close games, I’m almost positive no one is looking forward to playing us in the tournament!
Jan. 1, 2007
Happy New Year KU basketball fans!
Currently we are on break from school and have been for the past two weeks, so there has not been a lot going on lately. We’ve had more time to devote to practice, watching film and preparing for games.
Assistant coach Karen Lange practiced with us for awhile on Saturday until someone busted her lip. Sorry Karen the Big 12 is a very physical conference! Also, we said our last good-byes to Crystal Kemp who is leaving in a few days to play basketball overseas.
Besides that, everyone got a chance to go home for a couple days to see their family and enjoy some time off during Christmas break, which was nice considering how long basketball season tends to be.
When we came back to Lawrence, the team had an after-Christmas party in which we all exchanged gifts. I think it was called a Chinese gift exchange. The way it works is that everyone draws a number and #1 goes first, #2 goes second, and so on. Well the trick is that you can not end up with your own gift and if you like someone else’s gift, you can steal it as long as your number is higher than theirs.
I’m pretty sure Kelly wished she had a higher number because she ended up with some big, purple, fuzzy socks and did not have to worry about anyone taking them. Since I am a nice teammate, I will not say the name of the person who bought the socks but she is #20.
The year is almost over and we are about to start conference play on Wednesday against the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames, Iowa. We just finished our non-conference schedule this past weekend falling short to Northern Illinois and Xavier. We started both games off with a lot of energy and intensity, but did not close the game. So our #1 resolution for the New Year is to start closing our close games.
Nov. 22, 2006
season has just started and already it has been full of alot of fun and excitement. We took our first road trip to Kansas City about two weeks ago. Even though K.C. is only 45 minutes away, Coach Bonnie still wanted to follow our usual routine of leaving the day before the game so the freshmen could get used to traveling.
I love the freshmen but sometimes I think their mouths move 100 times faster than their brains. Danielle, who lives in Olathe, Kan. asked if we were flying to K.C. because the itinerary said “depart.” LaChelda asked if Coach Bonnie was going to take a jet while the rest of us rode on a bus.
Obviously, we take charter buses to places that are not too far from Lawrence, but after those comments from Danielle and LaChelda the freshmen were no longer allowed to ask questions (just kidding!).
Our second road trip was on Monday, Nov. 20 against Creighton in Omaha, Neb. Everyone got off to a good start, especially Kelly who scored the first seven points of the game. At one point in the first half the score was 22-4 before we went on a little defensive slump.
As usual, I was in foul trouble but Jamie came in and performed well in front of her home crowd. About 20-30 people came to the game to support Jamie and Katie Smith, who are both from the Omaha area. We arrived back in Lawrence around 1:30 a.m. and still had to get up bright and early for class, but that is the rule and oh how we love Coach Bonnie for it!
Everyday we are learning more and more about our team. At times we can be so good defensively and other times we can be just as bad. There has not been one practice we’ve not done the “fill-and-sink” drill, which is designed to improve our defensive awareness. Coach if you read this I promise we will get it right sooner than you think.
Thanksgiving is coming up and some of us get to go home because we do not have a game until Nov. 29. I am very thankful that I get to go home to eat some of my grandma’s Thanksgiving dinner, but more importantly I am thankful for my teammates, my coaches and all those Jayhawks fans!
